As a tournament, the second
(and last) Asian Test Championship was a failure once the event had been
undermined by India’s
withdrawal. Only Pakistan
and Sri Lanka were strong
enough to win so it became a two-horse race, with Bangladesh making up the numbers.

The organisers scrapped the
meaningless league game between Sri Lanka
and Pakistan after they
had both beaten Bangladesh
and moved directly to the final.Sri Lanka travelled
to Lahore and
dominated the final from its start. They fully deserved to become the current
Asian Champions.

This
one-match tour at
least saw international cricket returning to Pakistan after the September 11th
terrorist attacks.New Zealand had agreed to tour a month later in
mid-April but a bomb blast killing fifteen people outside
their Karachi hotel brought a swift end to
their tour and further disruption to Pakistan’s cricket.

The
constitution of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board states: "Whilst on tour the
selection of the team shall be done by the Manager, Captain and
Vice-Captain" but inevitably coach Dav Whatmore had much influence.